13 December Kuala Lumpur
In the afternoon I got a taxi to one of my
favorite Kuala Lumpur museums, the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia (RM 20)
https://iamm.org.my/. It’s a very beautiful
modern building with extensive Islamic patterns, domes, and even an inverted
dome. I started with a special show that had just opened today—“Oceans that
Speak: Islam and the Emergence of the Malay World”—that tells of how ports on
the Malay peninsula played a central role in trade from ancient times to that of
the colonial powers, eager to profit off the spice trade, and how Islam replaced
earlier faiths and how European steamships aided dissemination of Islamic
scripture and scholarship. The large exhibit area displayed many historic
artifacts, paintings, and photos.
Next I headed to some of the dozen
permanent galleries to see Islamic craftsmanship from cultures of Ottoman,
Persian, Spain, India, Central Asia, as well as the Malay world. The many Korans
and other books reveal intricate illuminations. Astrolabes show early Islamic
skill with the sciences. Jewelry glitters and paintings shine in the Mughal
exhibits. Ceramics, textiles, metalwork, and woodwork abound throughout the
galleries. I especially like the detailed models of mosques and holy sites from
around the world.
From the museum, a short walk led to the National
Mosque of Malaysia with its striking blue-and-turquoise tiled 16-pointed star
roof and 73-meter-high minaret. I arrived during visiting hours and stepped
inside, then strolled the covered courtyard areas past tranquil pools.
I
walked back to the center, passing the old Kuala Lumpur Railway Station, an
extravagant many-domed structure completed in 1917 with a
“Neo-Moorish/Mughal/Indo-Saracenic/Neo-Saracenic” style. Today the huge station
looks a bit down on its luck as passenger trains no longer stop here since the
KL Sentral station took over in 2001, though it’s still a stop on a light-rail
line. I continued walking to the South Indian vegetarian restaurant Restoran MTR
1924 https://mtr1924malaysia.com/
where I had the ‘mini-meal’—a very filling and tasty thali despite its
name—along with a mango lassi and a masala tea, then I walked back to my Airbnb.